Everything you need to know about Mac OSX

Apple launched their new Operating System OS X Lion yesterday and is the first time the Cupertino Company has offered the new OS as a day-one download, with a physical release later next month – here’s our thoughts on the new touchy feely operating system.

To get the new software you need to have your copy Snow Leopard fully up-to-date – so that you can access the App store. The OS costs a very reasonable £20.99 and comes with a multi device license – so if you have a Macbook and iMac then you can have the new OS on both for no extra cost.

We managed to download two copies of the OS in around 3 hours on an 8-meg connection, during peak-times – Apple’s bullet-proof servers did a sterling job of getting the download down our connection in a very reasonable time.

Once the download is complete your taken through the very simple install – where you choose which drive you want to install it on. After 30 minutes it’s complete, and you’re greeted with a little intro screen showing you a few of the new features.

For Lion to be a useful upgrade your Mac should really have the new trackpad for laptops, the Magic Mouse or the separate trackpad – if you don’t you will miss out on a lot of the new features which are based around new gestures and touches.

The first thing we noticed was Mission Control – in a similar way where you go to the top left to show all windows on the now defunct expose. Mission Control shows you everything that is open on the Mac and allows you to have numerous desktop spaces, travelling between them is simply done by swiping four fingers left and right. This replaces spaces and is a far better system. Early tests revealed the new system was super smooth and intuitive from the off.

Launchpad is another new feature and can be accessed with a simple four-finger pinch and shows all of your apps in a convenient manner, pinch the other way that the apps disappear.

There have been a few changes in Safari too – when you swipe two fingers left and right webpages navigate back and forth like a pages on a book – it’s looks so cool and is very fast and responsive. There’s a new reading list function, similar to Bookmarks, it’s a place where you can make a reading lists from sites to read at a later date. Apple has also added a new download button on the top right, where all internet downloads go. It’s much better than the previous system and is always available – so no need to go window > downloads – to find you precious downloads.

You can look up words or terms online when you double-tap three fingers which brings up the dictionary definitions, Wiki info and thesaurus alternatives.

OS X Lion offers systemwide support for gorgeous, full-screen apps that use every inch of your Mac display. You can have multiple full-screen apps open at once — along with multiple standard-size apps. And it’s easy to switch between full-screen and desktop views.

For the first time apps you close will reopen right where you left off, so you never have to start from scratch again. And when you install software updates, you no longer need to save your work, close your apps, and spend valuable time setting everything up again. With Resume, you can restart your Mac and return to what you were doing — with all your apps in the places where you left them.

Another great feature is the new AirDrop, where you can send files to anyone around you wirelessly — no Wi-Fi network required. And no complicated setup or special settings. Just click the AirDrop icon in the Finder sidebar, and your Mac automatically discovers other AirDrop users within about 30 feet of you. To share a file, simply drag it to someone’s name. Once accepted, the fully encrypted file transfers directly to that person’s Downloads folder.

From what we’ve seen of the new OS – it’s certainly the best Apple OS ever, it’s so intuitive and is a joy to use and work within. We’ve noticed little or no slow down on a dual-core MacBook and seems to be very stable. And all of our important applications worked instantly. For us its been the smoothest launch of an OS in many years and we’d recommend that you make the switch as soon as possible. We could never see ourselves going back to Snow Leapord.